What side of the ball will be better in 2018: Offense or Defense?

Won't go through the plethora of changes and additions to both sides of the ball when it comes to coaching and players, but given news coming out of OTAs and Minicamp it looks like things are changing for the Raiders. For the first time in a long time, there may be a healthy competition between which side of the ball is best.

Since Carr has arrived Offense has been the strength of this team. But now that Norton is gone and Guenther is in, could things change?

I do think the 2018 Raiders will look a lot different than last year's team. That said, is it possible that the defense becomes the strength of the Raiders moving forward?

Personally I'm not all that concerned by which will be better, I'm hopeful both will be consistent from week to week, and will perform at a high level through the season. If both units and special teams play as we all hope they will they will surprise some, satisfy others and the best part is people will start to see a young team coming into their own!

HITMAN wrote Wed Jun 13, 2018 6:56 am:Personally I'm not all that concerned by which will be better, I'm hopeful both will be consistent from week to week, and will perform at a high level through the season. If both units and special teams play as we all hope they will they will surprise some, satisfy others and the best part is people will start to see a young team coming into their own!

Yes of course, but it is a long offseason and thought that this question might lead to some interesting discussion and debate. But then again, maybe not...

The D line should be much better, and we should get a lot more pressure on the qb. That should really help out the D backs. We have been so poor for so long that my expectations are actually pretty low. I would love a top 10 D...however in year 1 of a new system...lot of new players...I dont see us really clicking until the second half of the year. Hope I am wrong. I have a lot more faith that the offense will be a more cohesive unit and be much improved on day 1. I just see changing systems and personnel on the defense taking much longer to get them on the same page. There is so much reliance on the other players reading the play and reacting accordingly to be successful.

I expect a big improvement from the offense from 2017- perhaps not the yardage totals of 2016, but with a better running game and more consistency I'd expect the offense to be solidly in the top 10. The defense should be somewhere in the middle of the pack - 15 or 16. There are a lot of questions on both sides of the ball, but there are multiple guys who could step up and answer those questions - unlike many seasons, we aren't as dependent on one particular guy t step up at a number of positions. All teams have questions this time of year, we'll see how it plays out.

I think the O will be ranked hire but the D will still be a lot better then last year.....

Both sides will help the other. The O will have the ball longer keeping the D off the field and the D will get turn-overs (more then last year any way) & Have more 3 and outs so the O gets more chances....

chucker wrote Wed Jun 13, 2018 7:23 am:I expect a big improvement from the offense from 2017- perhaps not the yardage totals of 2016, but with a better running game and more consistency I'd expect the offense to be solidly in the top 10. The defense should be somewhere in the middle of the pack - 15 or 16. There are a lot of questions on both sides of the ball, but there are multiple guys who could step up and answer those questions - unlike many seasons, we aren't as dependent on one particular guy t step up at a number of positions. All teams have questions this time of year, we'll see how it plays out.

I think the defense is 15-16 and offense 16-20. Injuries hit among Lynch, Nelson, Penn. Carr takes time to adapt to a new system.

The offense in 2018 will be higher ranked than the defense, but after that I see our defense becoming top 5. In 2017 if someone said to me that we would be getting Arden Key and Hurst in 2018 I would be puzzled how we got two top 15 picks. Hurst, Key, and Hall give us depth and cheap salaries for three years. If Hurst stays healthy and Key keeps of the Aldon Smith path, this will be a better draft class than the Carr, Mack , and Jackson draft. Watching tape of Key has me puzzled why no one took a chance on him earlier. He is an absolute freak that has instincts you can't teach. I can't wait for two years from now when teams start complaining about how we cheated in the 2018 draft by taking these high risk guys. I see four possible pro bowl players here.